Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Miracle as Syrian family of five who were reported missing in Grenfell Tower fire are found safe

A family of five thought to
have died in the Grenfell Tower Inferno have been found to be alive and
well. Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy, who is leading the
investigation into the fire, announced the news in a statement this
morning but did not reveal the identities of the survivors.

The
survivors are believed to be the Khudair family, who have three grown
daughters...

The family fled the war in Syria to start living in Britain.
They lived half-way up Grenfell Tower and when they were not seen
following the fire that killed more than 79 residents, they were
reported missing by Catherine Lindsay, an adult language tutor who was
teaching them English.

The Independent spoke to one of the daughters,
Rawan on Facebook, and she confirmed that her entire family were unhurt
in the fire although they had lost all of their belongings. She revealed
that they were now getting help from kind members of the community.

Met
Police Commander Stuart Cundy also revealed that the death toll from
the tragedy has risen to 79. He said the death toll may still change,
but not as significantly as it has in recent days. Five people have been
formally identified after fire gutted the Grenfell residential block
last Wednesday in West London. The rest who are still missing are
presumed dead.

Mr Cundy said: "The awful reality is that we may not be able to identify all those that died."

Speaking
to reporters at New Scotland Yard, an emotional Cundy fought back tears
as he spoke about the extent of the damage caused by the blaze inside
the 24-storey tower. He said it had been "incredibly emotional working
in there", adding: "On Saturday
I went in myself and went to the top floor. And it is incredibly hard
to describe the devastation in some parts of that building."

Residents gathered at the site in North
Kensington to observe a minute's silence for those who died and all
those affected by the blaze and firefighters respectfully halted work to
join in. The silence was also observed at Government buildings across
the country.